1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to protective garments of the type worn by the crewmembers of high performance military (tactical) aircraft.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Known protective garment technologies are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,762,047 (Flagg et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,630 (Bassick et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,563 (Doyle), the descriptions of which are herein incorporated by reference.
The Flagg et al. garment was designed to apply pressure to the lower torso and legs of a crew member and included as integral components an inner tight-fitting sleeve cooperating with a looser-fitting sheath to define a pressure chamber therebetween. The sheath was in turn encased in a fabric outer garment serving to restrain expansion of the sheath when the chamber was pressurized.
Although successful in achieving its principal objective of pressure application, the Flagg et al. garment inhibited the natural dissipation of the wearer's metabolic heat output via perspiration evaporation. Thus, in order to offset the resulting discomfort and reduction in performance due to heat stress, it often became necessary to integrate complex and burdensome cooling systems into the Flagg et al. protective garments.
The heat dissipation problem was finally addressed satisfactorily by forming the bladder components of pressure garments with flexible micro-porous materials, as described in the Bassick et al. patent.
Subsequent developments of protective garment materials included the introduction of low elongation fabrics of the type disclosed in the Doyle patent, designed specifically to reduce ballooning or dimensional growth of pressurized garments, which presents interference within cockpits of high performance military aircraft. Such low elongation fabrics are necessarily heavier weight than conventional fabrics, and when used for anti-G garments in conjunction with standard military flyers coveralls, as is the present military standard convention, the total combined weight and bulk is less than satisfactory.
Modern day military flyers coveralls have remained essentially the same since their introduction except for raw material improvements, which progressed from cotton to nylon and presently to Nomex. Present flyers coveralls are nonspecific to aircraft type, with the same coveralls issued to military flyers of rotary wing, fixed wing, multi-place transport, strategic bomber, and tactical fighter aircraft. The flight envelope and mission of the latter are uniquely different from the others insofar as they include high acceleration (G) performance requirements, which necessitate unique, mission-specific protective garments for tactical flyers to perform optimally in a high-G environment. Tactical mission-specific protective equipment, e.g., anti-G suit, is worn over the standard issue flyers coverall, adding duplicative protective layers that add bulk, compromise comfort and performance, and exacerbate stress and fatigue in what is by definition already a highly stressful mission environment. The recent trend of increasing anti-G suit (4 ply, partial pressure type) coverage of the lower extremities up to full coverage (e.g., USAF Advanced Technology Anti-G Suit—ATAGS) in order to increase G protection has compounded the problem of thermal loading and excessive bulk and consequently has been deemed less than satisfactory by tactical aircrews, especially in warm climates. Additionally, the rapid response capability associated to the tactical flyers' mission necessitates their flying coverall also be utilitarian to the maximum extent practical, as with the present standard coverall.
A principal objective of the present invention is to provide a tactical flyers coverall that is both optimally effective and comfortable when worn in conjunction with other mission-specific protective equipment in high performance tactical aircraft and also is sufficiently utilitarian to be worn comfortably in pre- and post-flight environments.
The novelty of the tactical flyers ensemble lies in the fact that it combines the most efficient method of applying pressure to the body (full pressure, as embodied in the Flagg et al. garment, also known as a full pressure half suit) for acceleration protection with a tactical mission-specific designed flyers coverall such that the tactical flyers ensemble's maximum cross-sectional composition is only one or two-ply breathable materials versus the current standard flyers coverall and anti-G suit combination of five plies, two of which are nonbreathable.